'Go On': Matthew Perry on Lauren Graham and Ryan getting back out there

"Go On" has thus far played its lead character's grieving for his late wife pretty honestly. TV comedy convention would dictate that Ryan King (
Matthew Perry) fall into a will they/won't they scenario rather quickly, but five episodes in he has yet to as much as look longingly at another woman.

But the show is called "Go On," so eventually Ryan will try to put himself out there again -- with an assist from
Lauren Graham.

News that the
"Parenthood" star would
guest on "Go On" broke late last month, and in a call with reporters Monday (Oct. 8) Perry elaborated on the role Graham -- a long-time friend of his in real life -- will be playing.

"She plays a character named Amy, who was an old college buddy of mine, and there were some sparks back in college, but then my character got married," Perry says. "Now that things have changed in his life, Amy comes back. It was really fun to work with [Graham] again -- she's just so good. There were some sparks there, which is the first time Ryan has had any kind of feeling like that in a long, long time. So it was really interesting."

Viewers got to see a little bit of Ryan's romantic side last week when he started seeing visions of his late wife (played by
Christine Woods). Perry says they're some of his favorite scenes to date on the series.

"I thought it was really interesting to show Janie, so you see what this guy has lost," he says. "... I get to play a whole different sort of level in those scenes. That character obviously has to be used very sparingly, but I'm glad that it's part of the show."

Perry is also happy the show has decided to tackle Ryan's grief in stages and hasn't rushed him into a relationship. He does say, though, that Ryan will eventually warm up to the idea of dating again.

"We're talking about a story right now where he really throws himself out there into the singles scene, and it's pretty funny," he says. "So I think just like any other human being, he's going to evolve and move forward and start to get into that world, for sure. And Lauren Graham -- you couldn't ask for a better person to come on the show and jump-start that."